Link, Lofter, Stephenson Harwood, BEI to Highlight Value-Add Strategies at Hong Kong Forum

Opportunities for acquiring and redeveloping commercial assets in Hong Kong will grab the spotlight during a panel discussion at this month’s Mingtiandi forum in the Asian financial hub.

DBS’s Sherman Hung will moderate the value-add and opportunistic panel featuring John Saunders, group chief investment officer of Link; Carol Chow, founder and chairperson of Lofter Group; Janice Yau Garton, partner at Stephenson Harwood; and Collin Lau, founder and CEO of BEI Group.

With core strategies out of favour in the face of higher interest rates, opportunistic funds and value-add funds attracted a respective 41 percent and 33 percent of new capital raised last year among Asia Pacific-targeted vehicles, according to the 2024 Capital Raising Survey published by ANREV.

To explore the implications for the local market, the panellists will speak at 2.35pm Hong Kong time on 14 May as part of the all-day forum sponsored by Yardi, with more than 250 industry professionals expected to attend the event at the Ritz-Carlton at the ICC.

Urban Renewal in Focus

Saunders joined the manager of Hong Kong-listed Link REIT in March of this year. Most recently at BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, he now guides investment, portfolio management and strategic development at Asia’s biggest listed property trust as it continues to diversify its portfolio and expand its roster of capital partners.

Chow’s Lofter Group has focused on urban redevelopment projects across the full spectrum of asset classes in recent years, including residential, commercial and industrial properties. Hong Kong-based Lofter is teaming with Singapore’s SC Capital Partners to transform a set of ageing buildings on Ap Lei Chau Island into a 35,000 square foot (3,251 square metre) harbourfront residential complex with retail podium.

At global law firm Stephenson Harwood, Yau Garton specialises in property investments and acting for institutional investors, funds, hospitality groups, retail brands, developers, family offices, private equity firms and REITs. She is qualified as a solicitor in Hong Kong and as a solicitor and barrister in Ontario, Canada.

Lau’s BEI Group is an Asian-based global real estate and alternative investment and operating company. An innovator in real-estate-as-a-service, BEI is also a founding shareholder and investor in Virtus Medical Group and an active investor in healthcare business and healthcare-related properties.

Harbour Lights

Mingtiandi’s Hong Kong Focus Forum brings our popular event series back to Hong Kong after an on-stage event in Singapore last November drew more than 200 attendees, including representatives of Ivanhoe Cambridge, BlackRock and Warburg Pincus.

Tickets for the Hong Kong event are still available at the link above, and you can contact our events team regarding group rates.

The full event will be streamed on MTD TV, with the first 90 minutes made available live.